The Things We Leave Unsaid, and the What-Ifs That Come From Them
by zinneria
Summary: Gen one-shots, primarily using AA6 and its characters as the primary focus. I use prompts as inspiration for each chapter.
1. Prompt 100: Death (SoJ No pairings)

_Apollo and Nahyuta go to Dhurke's final resting place and wonder, what if?_

* * *

Nahyuta glanced to the side when he saw Apollo shift, and his expression tighten in that way it always did when he was attempting to hide what he was thinking. For the most part it worked. Just…not for people who knew him very well.

"Are you alright?" He asked carefully.

Apollo's head snapped in Nahyuta's direction. "What? Of course I am—I'm Apollo Justice and I'm fine!"

Nahyuta tried not to wince at the volume of Apollo's voice. "So you've said. Repeatedly."

Apollo ran his hands through his hair awkwardly. "Sorry. Why do you ask?…About me being alright, I mean."

"I've been worried," Nahyuta replied easily. "I can't say that I'm exactly pleased that I've been too busy to speak with you. And…come here."

He stared blankly at Dhurke's headstone in front of him. "I've been waiting for you to come for a while."

"Mm."

"I wish you were able to talk to him after the trial. You probably had a lot to say to him."

"The same goes for you, I would think."

A heavy sigh. "We both needed to have a long talk with him, but at least I was able to be able to see him," Apollo paused. "He implied that we would be able to talk when I went to visit him in the detention center, you know."

Nahyuta looked at him. "Did he?" He asked. "That's…odd. All things considered."

"I don't think he expected things to end the way they did," he shook his head. "There's a lot of wishing and what-if's we could have, but if anything, I think I would want to know what he was going to say."

"Some things are to remain a mystery," Nahyuta closed his eyes. "We shouldn't expect answers to everything," he turned to look at Apollo, amusement flickering in his eyes. "I wouldn't be surprised if you attempted to find out regardless."

"Well considering that I normally do get all the answers I want anyway, you shouldn't be," Apollo replied ruefully. "I think I would be able to if I tried hard enough."

Nahyuta looked thoughtful. "Apollo, may I ask you something?"

"Uh…that depends on what you're going to be asking me," Apollo crossed his arms. "From your expression, and the fact that you had to ask me before asking, it doesn't look like it's going to be anything light."

"It depends on how you feel about your biological father." _Your_ real _father_ , a voice in his head said. He found that he didn't want to bring himself to say the words aloud. It would imply that somehow Dhurke _wasn't_ Apollo's father. He was. In every way that really mattered. But when all was said and done, it didn't change the fact that Apollo was forcibly ripped away from his original family at the hands of the one he was adopted into. That…that couldn't be fair, and Nahyuta would not wish it upon anyone.

Apollo pressed his pointer finger to his forehead. "I don't know what to think about him. I never knew him, so I can't say I'm exactly grieved that he died. What happened was horrific in every sense of the word, but…well you get it. With all due respect to him, of course."

"I see," Nahyuta looked away. "If you had the chance to choose, would you had rather grown up with your biological parents?" He didn't know if he wanted to really hear the answer, but that never stopped him before.

He blinked at the question and struggled to find a way to respond. "You can't seriously be asking me this." Apollo finally said.

That response gave him pause. "…I don't understand."

"You're asking me if I would have chose to never have met you. Or Dhurke."

"If you want to think about it that way then…"

"You can't just ask me that. Especially you in front of _Dhurke's grave_." His gaze darkened.

Nahyuta winced. "I'm sorry, that was callous of me. I didn't mean offense."

There was a long silence. "Is this one of your what-if's, Nahyuta?" Apollo asked. His voice was quite noticeably softer.

"One of them," he affirmed brusquely, not wanting Apollo to suddenly shift the conversation around to him. "I did not mean it the context you put my question in," Nahyuta stated matter-of-factly. "I hadn't even considered it. All I wanted to know was if you'd have preferred it."

Apollo eyed him. "You're just trying to get away with asking your question anyway without me thinking about it too hard." He accused.

"Your powers of perception never fail to amaze me."

The tone came out bordering on sarcasm, uncharacteristic for the mild-mannered monk, but Apollo chose to ignore it. "Well in that case…" he pursed his lips. "I don't know. I know that I wouldn't have wanted my father to have been killed, and my mother to have disappeared, but… I like the family I grew up with. Growing up with you isn't something that I can just forget about, and believe me, I tried. Dhurke wasn't perfect, and he left me in America, stopped visiting me completely after five years, and never came back for me like he promised but if you overlook—"

"The parental abandonment? Yes, I suppose your childhood couldn't have been all that bad once you overlook that." Nahyuta added, "You're overthinking it, Mr. Justice."

"Your cynicism makes it sound worse than it actually was," Apollo deadpanned. "It all worked out for the better if you look at the bigger picture of things. If I stayed in Khura'in with you and Dhurke, I never would have met Mr. Wright, his daughter Trucy, Athena…" he paused. "…and Clay." He finished quietly.

"Your optimism makes the ordeal sound better than it probably was."

"Don't ruin this for me. I'm trying to be appreciative of the way things turned out. It makes me feel better about my life."

"Sorry."

"I don't even know if I would have become a lawyer without Dhurke. Mr. Wright played a really big part in it too, but Dhurke planted the seed, I guess you could say."

"You're skirting around my question. You only have to say 'yes,' or 'no'. I won't take it personally."

"No."

* * *

 **This is something that I've had written for a while. It, along with several other SoJ gen fics have been sitting around collecting dust. I'll post some more of them if people seem interested.  
**

 **One thing that has always bugged me is how I've seen a lot of people write Apollo having sentimental feelings towards Jove in one form or another, and there is no way that would be possible. People who were adopted as young as Apollo and have never interacted with their birth parent(s) generally don't even give them a second thought. IIRC, he even says in-game that he never even thought that much about Jove because he considered Dhurke his dad, and still didn't all the way into adulthood until he saw the picture, which got him a little curious.**

 **This is canon too-Apollo doesn't even bat an eye when he sees Jove's final moments, but has a Heroic B.S.O.D. when he learns that Dhurke is dead and even gets a new animation for it.**

 **Anyway, criticism is always welcome, especially with my punctuation and pacing since I suck with both.**


	2. Prompt 18: Sympathy (SoJ No pairings)

_Amara is curious about her husband's foster son. Unfortunately for her, Apollo doesn't really know what to say._

* * *

Moving to Khura'in was a lot simpler than a lot of things in Apollo's life. The very fact that immigrating to another country was simpler than most of his life said several things about it, but he didn't feel like making internal, cynical comments. It didn't mean he wouldn't later, but at the moment things were just going his way, something that never happened.

Apollo was proud of his house. It wasn't anything spectacularly fancy, but it was a house. Not an apartment, and not a rental, but his. It was remarkably satisfying to be able to own one's own property for the first time.

"You have just been standing here staring," someone approached—the voice was feminine and relaxed, although the tone was a bit condescending. "Are you not going to…'move in,' as you Americans put it?"

He turned to see Queen Amara. _Erm…ex-Queen Amara?_ "Your Mercifulness," Apollo sputtered, quickly deciding using Khura'in formalities he was used was the easier route. "I thought you would be with Her Benevolence." _Or Nahyuta. He deserves some kind of your attention all things considered._

"Are you telling me what I can and can't do with my time, Mr. Justice?" She didn't look impressed.

"No! No! I'm not saying that," pause. "But I didn't think you'd be out here."

She hmm'd. "Well Rayfa is busy with her training. As much as I know about spirit channeling, there are other things that must be left to her tutors."

Apollo mentally fumbled around for words to say. It at least felt like she wanted to make conversation but he hadn't a clue on what in the world to say. "I guess so," he finished lamely. _Great job, Justice._

Amara stared at him blankly for a moment and without warning, she winced. "I apologize, Mr. Justice. You must feel awkward."

 _Yeah, a little. What do you even_ say _to this woman?_ Apollo ran his fingers through his hair. "It's alright, Your Mercifulness… I—"

"I suppose I wanted to get to know you. That's why I came to see you," she looked pained. "You are my…now deceased husband's son. I feel obligated to be able to hold a conversation with you outside of an interrogation."

"Interrogation?" Apollo repeated dubiously.

"You call it 'cross-examination'."

"Oh, that. I wouldn't call it an interrogation…"

"What would you call it then?" Amara asked.

Apollo couldn't place if she was mentally judging him or was genuinely curious, but tried to settle for a good answer anyway. "Cross-examining someone is different than that. It's more…cordial." I doubt she'll buy that.

She had pulled out her pink, butterfly locket, and was tracing her thumb over the lid. "I see," Amara didn't look away from the locket. "You remind me of Dhurke." She told him suddenly.

Apollo flushed. "D-Do I?"

"And it is not simply because of your career path, or your convictions, although they are most certainly the same…" her voice got softer. "Your tone of voice and mannerisms mirror his sometimes." She finished. Amara's gaze hadn't left the possession in her hand, but she had a ghost of a smile on her face.

He was quiet for a bit. Eventually he asked, "What do you mean by that?"

She put away the locket and stared at him again with that unnerving expression. Finally relenting, she said, "Exactly what I said. While you were cross-examining me, you wore many of Dhurke's expressions when he believed he'd found a lead on a case. It brought back interesting memories."

"Just…interesting?" Asked Apollo. He quickly decided to go down that line of questioning in hopes to get a little more information on how exactly their relationship worked. He had no doubts that they loved each other but they were just _so different_.

She breathed in and out slowly. "Do not think that you will be able to cross-examine me in such a mundane environment," Amara said drily. "I am not unfamiliar with your tricks, Horn Head."

 _Great. I thought I was making some headway in getting her to stop calling me that._ "I thought you wanted to get to know me." Apollo countered, ignoring the nickname.

"Yes, I did say that," she closed her eyes, looking the perfect picture of serenity. "However I do not see how speaking of Dhurke proves to accomplish it."

"Well you brought up how I remind you of him," Apollo argued. "Then proceeded to elaborate. I certainly think you were making some headway in getting to know me." He had to suppress a satisfied smirk.

Amara was silent for a moment. "I concede your point, Mr. Justice. But please, do tell on how Dhurke was a proper conversation topic. How is it better than anything else?"

He pressed his index finger to his forehead. "Well… Before, we didn't know what else to talk about. Really, the only thing we have in common is Dhurke. Isn't that the best place to start?"

"How so?" Amara closed her eyes again. "You are also my son's brother. What is your evidence that we could not also use that as a starting point?"

"Well, I– wait…"

Suddenly, she began to chuckle in that sickeningly polite way and not anything like Dhurke's deep-bellied and boisterous laughter. "Being goaded into a battle of wits without realizing it," she ceased her tittering but was still looking amused. "Yet another thing you two have in common."

"I don't think that's because of Dhurke's influence, Your Mercifulness…"

"That may be true," she stared despondently at the house in front of them, her smile having faded away. "But it brought back memories being able to do that again."

"Interesting memories?" Apollo guessed.

"No." Amara shook her head. "Good ones." There was a pregnant pause before she turned to him and said, "It has been quite a while since I've been able to do that. Thank you, Mr. Justice."

Apollo blinked. "Oh…um…you're welcome, Your Mercifulness." The last thing that he'd expected from the conversation was to be thanked by the previous matriarch.

"Now, what were your questions you had about Dhurke?" She smiled coyly.

* * *

 **I am writing these with the help of 100 prompts from kathrineroid on WordPress. I'm doing all the prompts completely out of order and the stories probably aren't too accurate to the prompt I took, but it helps. And it's a plus that it means I can be lazy with titles.**

 _6/20/2017: Fixed some typos and the formatting. Why did no one tell me that it got messed up in the transition from AO3? x_x_


	3. Prompt 20: Defeated (SoJ AU No pairings)

_After they failed to destroy Ga'ran's regime, Nahyuta contemplates some things._

* * *

The first few months were hard. So much had gone wrong in such a short amount of time and it was difficult to get everything back into a quasi-routine. During that timespan, Queen Ga'ran had tossed every intention of appearing as a merciful and wise queen out of the proverbial window and had no qualms about weeding out all the Dragons she possibly could. At the same time, however, there were more supporters and sympathizers for the Defiant Dragons than ever before, and as a result, had more resources than he could ever remember.

What unnerved Nahyuta, on the other hand, was that no matter how many spies he had, how hard he tried, he couldn't find a single shred of information about his mother or sister. He didn't even know if Amara survived that bullet. He prayed to the Holy Mother that she lived; it would give his aunt a reason to keep Rayfa around, and he wouldn't be left entirely orphaned at the end of this entire ordeal, as selfish as it sounded.

This was all Ga'ran's fault, simple as. He could throw blame around all he wanted but in the end, the blame lay with her. His aunt had torn his family apart—and not only that, she'd started murdering them too. Apollo was the only family member he had left within an arm's reach under the illusion of safety.

The past year, Nahyuta was quickly becoming far too intimate with his father's desire to want Apollo back in the States, more than he ever would have liked to. He was responsible for his younger siblings' safety and wellbeing—that was just how it was supposed to be. He recalled one instance when he had gotten into a spat with his foster brother and had left him to his own devices, even after being told by Dhurke to remember the "don't leave each other unsupervised" rule. He was already halfway back to their shack before it hit him that he'd left Apollo alone to do something that could possibly get him hurt. Nahyuta was in a panicked haze until he found him near a creek with a gash on his leg and a nasty bruise beginning to show on his cheek. It took bribing and and a little manipulation on Nahyuta's part to convince Apollo to swear on the Holy Mother that he wouldn't say a word to their father about it. In the end, it didn't work; it turned out that they were being watched by one of the rebels who apparently drawn the short straw and was stuck with babysitting duties. They were both lectured and punished, although his was significantly harsher, and he ended up doing Apollo's chores for the next week. Blaming each other for the incident, they both refused to act civil or even speak most of the time with each other for nearly two weeks.

Looking back, the entire event was horribly immature, much more than his other recollections of his past. Nahyuta should have noticed that Dhurke had already started making plans to send Apollo to America. The actual event wouldn't happen until five months later, but instead of wasting time fighting, they could have used that remaining (precious, precious) time with each other. He couldn't even remember what the initial fight was about—just the lessons and the promise that had come out of it.

 _"You can't ever leave your little brother alone like that ever again, do you understand? You're the oldest and that comes with a lot of privileges, but a lot of responsibilities too. You're responsible for keeping your younger siblings safe, even if it means getting in trouble yourself. Remember that, alright, Son?"_

 _"Mm."_

 _"Promise me, Nahyuta. This is very important."_

 _"Yeah, I promise."_

 _"I hope you mean it. Because when your old man's gone and dead, your brother's all you'll have left! Not that I'll be dying any time soon. Hah-ha ha ha!"_

The cruel irony wasn't missed, and Nahyuta decided to ignore it altogether.

He was responsible for keeping Apollo and Rayfa safe, and he was failing miserably at it. Oh, he certainly put his own life on the line for them on multiple occasions—he offered it up to Apollo on a silver platter—but it didn't stop Nahyuta from being incapable anyways.

He closed his eyes and sighed. Lamenting over the past and his failures wouldn't do any good, but it helped him come to a decision. He didn't want to think very hard about it since it would involve considering everything that would happen after, but if push came to shove, he'd force Apollo to go back home, and he would refuse to take no as an answer. Apollo was stubborn, but Nahyuta was too, when he wanted to be.

* * *

 **This one-shot will be followed up on, hence the too-open ending. Think of this as the start of a mini-fic or something. This might be against some unsaid rule but I want to do it anyway. Let me have my fun.**


	4. Prompt 24: Depressed (DD No pairings)

****_Athena's first Christmas at the Wright Anything Agency is less than as joyful as it should be, understandably. Still, though, Apollo makes an effort to cheer her up._

* * *

Apollo pursed his lips, quickly running scenarios through his head on what he would say, and how his co-worker would react to it.

"Try to cheer her up, Polly! No one should be this depressed on Christmas!"

Apollo didn't want to put a damper on Trucy's mood by saying Athena was acting as miserable as he felt. Sure, he was glad that he was able to help Mr. Wright catch the Phantom or whatever people wanted to call him (Apollo didn't really care—the man had murdered his best friend, Athena's mother, and countless other people, and came really damn close to ruining his friend's life so he didn't exactly care that much about what he was called), but that didn't exactly make him feel completely whole again after losing his best friend, and…being stuck in a blown up building. It didn't help the pain medication he was on made him feel nauseous. Even so…

"Athena?" He stood next to her awkwardly. "What are you doing over here in the corner?"

Athena smiled, although it didn't meet her eyes like all the other times she smiled. "Oh, Apollo! I should be asking the same thing about you. Trucy can't do any of her magic tricks without her assistant." She teased.

"So what are you doing in the corner? I'm sure Prosecutor Blackquill would like someone he knows to talk to. He's also found a corner to rent out." _If I were Mr. Wright, I'd try to charge them both._

Athena glanced behind Apollo's back. "Really?"

"I think you're pretty much the only reason he showed up." Apollo told her drily.

She rubbed her arm. "You're right, I should go talk to him." Her eyes were downcast and she stared at the carpet guiltily.

"I don't think he's going to hold anything against you, Athena. No need to look so guilty."

Athena looked up in surprise. "Oh! Right, of course."

Apollo sighed. "Is something wrong?" He asked her.

"No, there's nothing wro—okay, I admit it, I'm lying, put your bracelet away," Athena said flatly. "I guess I've just been thinking about my mom a lot." She sighed.

"Yeah, I figured it was something like that."

"I just want to talk to her again, you know?" Athena chewed her bottom lip. "For closure. But it's real life and not the movies, I know. My mom's ghost won't suddenly show up to me in a dream or something and I'll be able to have a long conversation with her and skip all the stages of grief and go on to acceptance."

"I heard Mr. Wright's friends with spirit mediums," Apollo suggested. "Pearl Fey is supposedly a prodigy at it, and her cousin's even the Master of the technique or something like that."

Athena looked at him disbelievingly. "You believe that kind of stuff?"

"Well I—"

"Good for you, Apollo!" She interrupted, grinning brightly. You're finally being more open-minded about things!"

"Thanks, Athena." Apollo didn't even bother trying to argue with her. _At least she's smiling more sincerely now_ , he thought. "So are you going to stay in this corner or…?"

Athena frowned. "Yeah, I think I'll stay here a little longer." She responded. "I'm sure Simon can wait for a few more minutes."

"I don't think—"

"How are you doing?"

"Hm?"

Athena combed her fingers through her hair. "I don't think I was the only one badly affected by that trial last week. You're still hurting too. I can tell."

Apollo ran his fingers through his hair. "I didn't come here to talk about me…" he responded, smiling nervously.

"Well you're still feeling guilty about accusing me of killing Mom," Athena stated, her brows furrowing in worry.

 _This isn't where I thought this conversation would go_ , Apollo thought glumly. _I should have just made Trucy talk to her instead…_ "I just came to stop you from skulking around in the corner." He deadpanned.

"I'm not skulking!" Athena exclaimed, affronted.

Apollo crossed his arms. "Well then could you come out of the corner? I don't think Trucy would be too happy with me I left you here without doing what she asked." _I'm pretty sure Trucy's my boss even more than Mr. Wright is._

Athena looked a little disappointed that she didn't get to pursue her wanted conversation but she relented. "Alright. I guess I should go give Simon some company. He's the one who's been skulking around long enough."

* * *

"Hey, Apollo?" Athena called to her co-worker by the time everyone began clearing out of the Wright Anything Agency. When he turned around, she awkwardly began to stroke her hair. "Thanks for coming to talk to me when I was skulking in the corner."

"I thought you said you weren't skulking." Apollo retorted.

Athena glared, though there was no real heat behind it. "Hey, I'm just trying to say thanks. Way to ruin a girl's moment!" She shook her head, then placed her hands on her hips. "I mean, I know that Trucy was the one to send you over to me, but I could tell that you really did want to see me feel better again and that really meant a lot to me. It's always good to know I can have someone to count on." She smiled.

Apollo found himself speechless. He knew that Athena tended to be a more openly emotional person (even as apparently open Trucy was, he never really saw her get truly upset before) but he didn't expect her to give him a heartfelt thanks for just _feeling_ something. "Oh. You're welcome, Athena." He responded.

She tapped her gloved finger on her hip, probably waiting for him to say something else. When a few more seconds of silence went by, she continued, "And if you need anyone to count on, or talk to, you can always come to me, you know?" She offered, then grinned. "I'm practically a certified psychologist myself, you know! It'd be like you getting a free therapy session!"

 _Yeah, and how much would that be of me giving you a comforting talking-to?_ Apollo thought cynically, even if he appreciated the sentiment, and told her as much.

Athena's smile grew wider. "Well see you after holiday break, Apollo! I'm sure that next year will be full of all kinds of crazy cases that we'll be able to sink our teeth into!"


	5. Prompt 50: Rebirth (SoJ No pairings)

_Apollo and Nahyuta return to the old home of their childhood._

* * *

For the first time in months, Apollo and Nahyuta finally had time to breathe. They both opted to hike back up to the shack they grew up in, to see what of it remained, if anything at all.

They both remained silent until they reached the top, and Apollo had pushed open the door. "I forgot how small this place was." He watches the dust dance in the soft breeze, then finally settles in the dirt beneath his feet. He steps inside, and bites his lip when he sees that the shack in shambles. The pot, that Apollo distinctly remembers he and Nahyuta had taken turns in emptying whenever it was full of rainwater, and complaining about its weight, had been thoroughly smashed by a fallen beam. The pieces of cloth that used to block the sunlight from creeping in too early in the morning looked like they were yanked off of the walls and were now covered in dust on the dirt floor. The bedrolls Apollo so fondly recalled lying in, feeling safe in, were gone.

"I suppose it's only natural we don't remember," Nahyuta muses, scanning the distraught appearance of their old home. "We didn't spend much time in here. Barring that one blizzard that seemed to never end. Do you remember?"

Apollo wants to smile at the memory but can't quite get his lips to quirk upwards. "That would be pretty hard to forget. A lot of it's fuzzy, but I remember pretty well I was about to go crazy after three weeks stuck inside."

He hears Nahyuta chuckle quietly, although there's a bitter undertone to it. He bends over and picks a piece of parchment off the ground.

Apollo approaches him, then frowns at what's on the paper. "What's that?" He asks. There is a crude drawing of stick people that look as if they're being hurled into the sun.

Nahyuta turns it over where Khura'inese characters look hurriedly written, although Apollo generally finds he isn't that spectacular at deciphering how much effort was put into the alien characters.

Nahyuta suddenly blanches. "This was drawn by Her Benevolence when she was very young, I believe. What's written here is a threat to Dhurke from Ga'ran's guardsmen."

"Oh." Apollo responds blandly. _What a find_ , he thinks. There was clearly more written there that Nahyuta was omitting but he doesn't want to press him on it if he doesn't want to say anything.

The paper drops to the ground. "If Ga'ran's guards were here already, I doubt we will have much luck in finding anything of value here." Nahyuta tells him evenly.

When they exit the shack, Apollo stares at the distant mountain, and sighs heavily. I feel like I'm dramatically posing for a photographer, he muses.

"I'm sorry, Apollo." Nahyuta stands next to him, his brows furrowed, and his expression heavy.

"What for?" Apollo asks dubiously.

"I should have known it wouldn't be in good shape. We shouldn't have come here. There's no use in tearing open old wounds."

"Is that what this is?"

"Isn't it? I…I know that I have my own reservations about coming back here. I have no doubts that you do as well."

 _Nahyuta never stammers_ , he thinks, but pushes it to the back of his mind. Apollo has to mull over it for a moment. "I'm glad I came," he says. "We'd have to show up here again sometime. Besides, it's not like we had much better things to do with our time."

"I'm certain I could have found something had I tried hard enough," Nahyuta responds, a bit harshly. After a moment, "Apologies. That was rude of me."

Apollo shakes his head dismissively. He gets it. He'd be concerned if Nahyuta didn't have something like that to say. He'd become quite the cynic over the years. …And seemingly developed a surprising passive-aggressive streak, even outside of the courtroom.

"It's strange, isn't it?" Nahyuta asks suddenly.

Apollo looks at him questioningly.

"It used to be very alive here," he continues. "It's very quiet and empty here now. It hardly feels like the same place we grew up in. Nothing but a scrap heap now."

Apollo looks back at the ravaged shack. "Do you want to have it used for scrap?" He questions.

"I don't," Nahyuta says simply. "It's for sentimental reasons. It will be eventually, however. I can't see it serving much of a purpose in several years' time. It would be a waste to leave this land here doing nothing."

"There's nothing wrong with a little bit of sentimentality," Apollo turns back to face him. "But using it for the greater good? Dhurke would have liked that. It's a lot better than leaving it here to rot." He gives a wry smile. "It's poetic."

Nahyuta eyes him curiously. "Poetic? I don't recall you ever enjoying such sentiments." He turns to stare at the shack. "I understand what you mean, however. When we were young and in Khura'in, it flourished. After you left, and we were forced to abandon it, it began to decay without proper care, as I was bending to the will of Ga'ran, and Her Benevolence was being used as leverage. Now we've returned, and want to start over, both here and in Khura'in. To do something new with it." He adds.

Apollo blinks at him. "Yeah, something like that. I wouldn't word it as…prettily as you did, though. You make it sound more meaningful than it actually is."

"You claimed it was poetic, and I have made it so," Nahyuta says, a small smile tugging at his expression. "Your ineptitude for 'pretty words' is concerning, Apollo, considering your line of work."

"Thanks, Nahyuta. I always love hearing your positive reinforcement."

He chuckles, finally allowing himself to smile; one of those smiles that reminds Apollo of when they were younger. "And I'm always more than willing to give it."

* * *

 **I'm trying a very different tone with this, so please tell me if I suck at it and where I messed up. Or where I** **did it really well in your opinion, so I can attempt to replicate it in the future.**


	6. Prompt 16: Horror (SoJ No pairings)

"P-Please, Apollo…" he begs. His hands shake. He feels like he can barely stand, and his jaw aches from grinding his teeth. "Do not make this worse than it already is." The grip on his prayer beads tighten. He feels dizzy. _Holy Mother, let him listen to me just this once. Please… I can't…I can't—_ "I cannot lose you to the Twilight Realm, too…" he barely acknowledges that his voice has been trembling, and that he's on the verge of a breakdown in front of entire courtroom.

His father is dead and the hopes and dreams of a revolution with him. Now Apollo is being held at gunpoint and it could be seconds until he sees yet another family member shot. The scent of gunpowder and the sickening sound of his mother's body hitting the floor still linger. The image of Dhurke's corpse and the hideous splatter of stark crimson against soothing blues had burned itself in his mind.

Ga'ran wants Apollo's blood on her hands too now. What makes it so much worse is that he's in no better position than Apollo is. He can't do a damned thing. He stands so very close the person he desperately needs to protect, but all he can do is plead for _someone_ to listen to him. He's had fears about being useless like this, but he had always quelled those thoughts with the likelihood of something like that coming to pass was low. He'd overestimated his usefulness and he's paying for that mistake. Her Eminence has no need for him anymore and he has nothing else to give.

Nahyuta feels ill.

* * *

 **Yes, this is less than 300 words, but I promise I'll do my best to make up for it in the next one, which I want to write pretty soon. All the dialogue spoken is straight from the game; I didn't write it.**

 **I try not to write "what was this character thinking during this one part in canon?" fics, not because I dislike them, but because I feel like people don't like reading them, and I generally don't enjoy writing them. That being said, I was reading a lot of stuff with tones similar to this at the time, and I noticed that the stories that evoked the most emotion were the stories that had very poetic and flowery descriptions, making the story feel very raw, even if the technical aspects of the story was sometimes sacrificed to get that feeling (something I did not do here). Since I already have issues with describing things, I thought this would be a nice exercise.**

 **I wasn't going to post this at all, but I saw something on the PWKM, and then saw that a few people wanted at least something like this, and if I can entertain at least one person with my writing, I'm happy.**


	7. Prompt 67: Question (SoJ No pairings)

"What was my name?"

Nahyuta frowned. "I'm afraid I don't understand, Your Benevolence." He laid the scroll he was reading on the coffee table in front of him, waiting patiently for her to explain herself.

"Before I was taken by Mo…by my aunt. I was named something different, was I not?" Rayfa clarified. She spoke with firm clearness, despite her slip.

There was a pregnant pause. "Officially, you had no name. Your name has always been Rayfa Padma Khura'in." He normally had no problems with the summer sun shining directly over him, but Nahyuta found himself wishing he had decided to sit under some sort of shade. Sweat could feel like it was burning and it wasn't pleasant in the least.

She crossed her arms and looked at him down her nose. Or…up it, rather. Even when sitting, Rayfa was shorter than Nahyuta. He doubted she would ever grow much taller, but kept it to himself. "You know very well what I meant, Braid Head."

"You did indeed have a different given name," Nahyuta fudged.

"What was it?" She repeated.

"Perhaps Her Mercifulness would be a better person to ask about this topic," he replied slowly. It was beginning to become difficult to keep eye contact with her. He was told specifically by their mother to not answer her question, to which he of course agreed. He didn't expect to be put under such scrutiny, however.

She looked away at the floor forlornly. It made Nahyuta feel a sudden pang of guilt. "Mother told me that I am who I am and any previous names I may have had should no longer have power over me."

"She would be correct in that regard."

She glowered at him. "Surely what I had been named shouldn't be something that either of you are hiding from me." Rayfa crossed her arms. "Is my birthday even when I was born?"

He sighed. "Your Benevolence, do you know why names are so important in Khura'in?" Nahyuta asked.

"Of course I do," she replied with a sniff. "It's because it's the name of our soul and will allow us to be channeled."

A butterfly landed on the small plate holding sweetened water placed on the table. "Yes," he nodded. "The name of your soul is Rayfa Padma Khura'in. While it was originally changed in order to hide your lineage, it is the name placed on your soul, and always will be. Knowing another name is of no importance, nor is its origin. It is your name and your name alone."

"You're avoiding the question," she accused angrily.

He smiled a little at her outburst. "Perhaps," he admitted. "You will understand with time. I'm sure Her Mercifulness has a good reason for not telling you. It is best that we not question her for now."

She sighed. "If you insist."

Nahyuta pursed his lips. He couldn't have her feeling so crestfallen. "Why are you so intent on learning the name of your birth?"

She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well…I assume Dhurke at least helped named me," she said. "I might not consider him my father, but I think it wrong to simply ignore it. I imagine that it must have been painful for him that I didn't even know the name I was given."

"He did not know you were his daughter at all," Nahyuta told her tersely, much more so than he had intended. "He thought you dead up until the day he died. Ga'ran did an excellent job at hiding you from him."

She looked even more distraught. "…Oh. I see. I wonder what he thought of me, then."

He wished he could answer her question. He wished that he could ask the same thing. Apollo was lucky. He had the opportunity to see their father before he left the earth for his eternal rest. Nahyuta didn't deserve such closure after all he did, but Her Benevolence was guilty of none of the sins that tainted his soul. She at least deserved to speak with such a great man at least once. "When you are older, perhaps Her Mercifulness will channel him for you," he told her. "Or if you travel to the United States, you could seek out Miss Maya Fey. I have no doubt she will perform a channeling."

"Of course. You are quite right, Prosecutor Sahdmadhi," Rayfa said, straightening. "I most certainly will speak to him once I am grown." She sounded confident, which was always a good sign.

Of course, from the research he had done about Kurain Village, their method of earning money was channeling the dead for anyone who asked. Nahyuta had to suppress a grimace when he had found that out. To think that their spiritual power was so immense that an entire village was capable; were blessed by the Holy Mother so abundantly, and all they used it for was petty change! He was certain that Her Benevolence would not react kindly to that, and he hoped that Miss Fey would not be offended if she went on a tirade if she was told to pay.


	8. Prompt 4: Hate (SoJ No pairings)

Two years after Apollo had been sent to America, Nahyuta felt like his father had no intentions of coming back for him any time soon. For a very long time, he hated him for it. Or, at least, he thought he hated him. No, he didn't truly know what hating someone completely entailed. When Ga'ran began to force him to turn against every belief he grew up with, everyone he held dear, he truly understood what hate meant.

" _Let it go, and move on_." That was what he repeated to himself all those years, just to keep himself sane, and be able to hold himself back from doing something…drastic. He forced himself to let his past go and focus on the dangers currently facing him.

After the first eighteen months, Nahyuta was able to desensitize himself to Ga'ran's cruelty, but nearly every defense he'd built up came dangerously close to crashing down around him when he saw Apollo; someone he never expected to see again, much less on the opposite side of the courtroom. He thought he'd been careful, but the queen's spies had picked it up: seeing Apollo again _hurt_. Forcing himself to keep his distance hurt even more. He didn't have to personally appear before Detective Skye to tell her that he needed her. Nahyuta just wanted to see him again, for possibly the last time. There was so much that he wanted to say but he had to hold his tongue, and brush off Apollo's attempts at conversation. He was even more terse than he planned to be because he realized his mistake too late: he wouldn't be able to speak to Apollo without slipping, and he knew someone would notice.

After that, he thought he'd covered his tracks well enough, and that Ga'ran's spies wouldn't make a fuss about it. That was what he thought, but now he was being inspected by the cold eye of Her Eminence. "I'm told you went to talk to the defense attorney," she told him.

Lying would only make things worse. Her Eminence already had all the information she needed, most likely. She was smart, Nahyuta would give her that. "I did." He gave a small nod, keeping his face expressionless. "However I wasn't able to, as I had several interrogations to carry out."

She arched an eyebrow. "Oh?" The queen kept her hands tucked in her sleeves. "Then why, in the Holy Mother's name, would you go to this _defense attorney_ –" she spat the words out like poison, "–for casual conversation?"

He tilted his chin upwards, the most defiance he allowed himself to show to Ga'ran. "I wanted to ask him something. It was a waste of my time," he told her simply.

"Is that all?" She asked stiffly. "There is no relation between the two of you, correct?" Ga'ran asked, staring at him intensely.

 _She doesn't know about Apollo. Keep it that way, a voice in his head was screaming._ The logical part of his mind tried to remind him that she meant "relation" as in another member of the Defiant Dragons rather than another family member she could possibly hold against but it wasn't quite able to penetrate his conscious train of thought. Nahyuta shoved the thought of _why would she even ask that to begin with?_ to the back of his mind. "Of course not," he shook his head in negation, and gave her a smile, praying to the Holy Mother that it would look immensely more serene and confident than he felt. "Why would I know a defense attorney from the States? I've never been there."

There was a pregnant pause. "I see." Her voice was as cold as the Khura'in winters. Suddenly, there was a small upturn of her lips. "I certainly hope that you're telling the truth, Prosecutor Sahdmadhi. I would certainly hate to discover if you were, for some reason, lying to me," Ga'ran finished silkily.

Nahyuta bowed lowly. "I have no reason to lie about such things, Your Eminence."

She narrowed her eyes. "Your honesty is much appreciated. You are dismissed, Prosecutor."

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 **very little actually to do with the prompt but i'm sure that it's fine.**

 **and prompt four for the most american holiday in japanifornia.**


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